It must not be forgotten, too, though for us the word ‘tragic’ has come to possess an atmosphere of pervading sadness, the happy ending was normal in the trilogies of Aeschylus; and in Aristotle’s time it was still debatable whether tragedy should not end happily…What historic causes made Tragedy take the serious turn is a question that cannot be followed up here. One thing is evident: that Tragedy is the exceptional phenomenon that calls for some special explanation…True tragedy has very rarely made its appearance at all. In the modern world, it has always, directly or indirectly, influenced by Greek and Roman drama. There seems to be no parallel to its independent growth in Greece; and this fact makes the problem of its origin there peculiarly difficult to solve.